In this section

PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY.

John
Chishul (d. 1672), a Congregationalist, established
a school in Enfield after his expulsion from the
rectory of Tiverton (Devon) in 1660. (fn. 1) In 1672
John Sheffield (d. 1680), the ejected rector of
St. Swithin, London Stone, was licensed to preach
in Enfield, (fn. 2) where in 1672 a house belonging to
John Hocklie was licensed for Presbyterian worship. (fn. 3) Congregationalists began meeting in Baker
Street in 1687 and built the first nonconformist
chapel in the parish in 1689. (fn. 4) Quakers met from
1667 and later acquired a meeting-house on the
eastern side of Baker Street; their meetings ceased
in 1794 and the house was afterwards turned into
two dwellings. (fn. 5) A Baptist, Joseph Maisters (d.
1717), was licensed to preach in Baker Street in
1689 (fn. 6) but his congregation does not seem to have
survived him. William Parnell was found guilty in
1685 of holding unlawful conventicles in his house. (fn. 7)

Quakers and Congregationalists were the only
nonconformists to flourish in the early 18th century.
Congregationalists began meeting at Ponders End in
1745 and later built a permanent church, perhaps
giving rise to a comment in 1766 that there were
many dissenters in the parish. (fn. 8) In 1780 a second
Congregationalist chapel was built in Chase Side
and served from the countess of Huntingdon's
college at Cheshunt (Herts.). Another chapel was
built near by, after a schism in 1791, and united with
the older church in 1871. (fn. 9) Six places of worship,
most of them temporary, were registered by
Congregationalists at Ponders End and Enfield
Highway between 1797 and 1816; (fn. 10) small chapels at
Whitewebbs and Botany Bay, serving remoter areas,
were opened later in the 19th century.

There was a Methodist chapel in 1790, when it
was said that Methodists had greatly increased, (fn. 11) and
a short-lived Wesleyan chapel in Turkey Street in
1824. (fn. 12) Wesleyans reappeared in Baker Street in
1844, (fn. 13) at Ponders End in 1849, and at Enfield Wash
in 1859. Primitive Methodists acquired a barn at
Chase Side, in 1852, where services were 'conducted
and visited by but a few persons of the labouring
classes'. (fn. 14) Baptist chapels recorded in 1816 and
1824 (fn. 15) seem to have been short-lived, as was a
Particular Baptist church in Baker Street opened in
1861. In 1868, however, new Baptist churches were
built at Enfield Town and in Totteridge Road,
Enfield Wash. Strict Baptists, in Turkey Street by
1852, (fn. 16) later established chapels at Enfield Wash and
at Ponders End. Brethren were worshipping in 1873
in a room facing Chase Green. (fn. 17) Other sects in the
late 19th century included the Mormons, whose first
chapel, at Ponders End, was opened in 1865, and the
Salvation Army, who opened their first hall, at
Enfield Wash, in 1883.

In 1862 there were 10 nonconformist chapels,
6 of them Congregationalist, 3 Wesleyan Methodist,
and one Primitive Methodist. (fn. 18) By 1900 all the larger
sects were represented except the Presbyterians, who
began worshipping at Enfield Town in 1902 and
opened a church in 1907. Protestant nonconformists
accounted for more than two-fifths of one Sunday's
15,015 worshippers in 1903, Anglicans totalling
8,123 and Roman Catholics 404. The most numerous
were Congregationalists with 2,738 worshippers,
followed by Methodists with 1,312 and Brethren
with 601. (fn. 19) Nonconformist churches were built in
the period between the World Wars to serve new
housing estates at Cockfosters and in the eastern
part of the parish but their total numbers fell after
the Second World War as some older buildings,
notably at Enfield Town, were closed. In 1970 there
were 4 Baptist, 5 Congregational, and 4 Methodist
churches, one Presbyterian church, and 13 churches
or halls belonging to other denominations.

Congregationalists.

Baker Street meeting-house
originated in a group established by Obadiah
Hughes (d. 1705), a minister from Plymouth, which
used a barn in 1687 and acquired new premises in
1689. A new chapel was built in 1702 and altered in
1752, 1771, and 1848. Schoolrooms were added
in 1860 and a larger chapel, to seat 500, was built in
1862. (fn. 20) From 1924 until 1933 the chapel was used as
a Salvation Army hall. (fn. 21) In 1933 it was taken over by
Baptists and renamed Emmanuel Baptist church. (fn. 22)

Ponders End Congregationalists met in 1745 in a
house at Scotland Green belonging to Lady Collutt.
A plain chapel with round-headed windows was
built in High Street in 1757 and a church hall was
built in 1908 and enlarged in 1922. (fn. 23) The chapel,
which seated 600, (fn. 24) was damaged by bombs in 1940
and was later demolished, whereupon the congregation moved to the church hall. In 1959 a brick church
and adjoining hall, designed by Ernest W. Banfield &
Son, were opened and the older hall was
demolished. (fn. 25) Congregationalists also met in South
Street from 1856 until 1866. (fn. 26)

In Chase Side Zion or the Old Independent
chapel, seating 210, was built in 1780 at the expense
of Peter Dupont, a retired London innkeeper. In
1791 the congregation split over the appointment of
a minister who was later expelled for bigamy and
Chase Side chapel was erected immediately north of
Zion chapel. The new chapel, although considered
socially superior, (fn. 27) was badly built and replaced by
a larger one in 1832. (fn. 28) In 1871 the two congregations
re-united (fn. 29) and in 1875 Christ Church was built on
the site of Zion chapel. Christ Church, a large
cruciform building of brick faced with Kentish rag,
was designed in the Decorated style by J. Tarring &
Sons. (fn. 30) The old Chase Side chapel survived in 1911
as a lecture hall (fn. 31) but was later demolished.

At Enfield Highway a chapel seating 130 was built
c. 1820 (fn. 32) and replaced in 1854 by a building with a
schoolroom attached, on the western side of
Hertford Road and south of the junction with
Hoe Lane. (fn. 33) A new church opened in 1896, closed
in 1924, (fn. 34) and subsequently became a co-operative
hall. (fn. 35)

At Whitewebbs a building was used by Congregationalists in 1832 (fn. 36) and a chapel near the King
and Tinker inn was registered in 1861 by the
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion and closed in
1959. (fn. 37) In 1873 it was served by students from
Cheshunt College (Herts.) (fn. 38) and in 1921 by Christ
Church, Chase Side. (fn. 39)

At Botany Bay services were held in 1851 in a
small chapel, seating 66. (fn. 40) The chapel, like that at
Whitewebbs, had links with the Countess of
Huntingdon's Connexion, although it was usually
described as Independent. It was closed in 1896. (fn. 41)

At Lancaster Road an iron church was used from
1880 (fn. 42) until a permanent building was opened by
Christ Church in 1885. In 1909 a Congregational
institute was built near by in Armfield Road and
services were held there, while the building in
Lancaster Road became a hall. In 1917 the congregation separated from Christ Church, under the
name of Armfield Road Congregational church, but
in 1937 the building in Lancaster Road was reoccupied and enlarged and in 1938 it was rededicated
as Lancaster Road Congregational church. (fn. 43) The
church is a plain brick building with a rose window
and a short spire at the western end.

Bush Hill Park church began as a Baptist mission
in the later Wheatsheaf hall, Main Avenue, in 1881.
It was taken over by Congregationalists, who from
1887 met in the new Avenue hall, Sixth Avenue. The
modern church in Main Avenue was erected in 1910,
largely at the expense of George Spicer, and was
later given the additional name of the George Spicer
memorial church. Avenue hall was sold in 1936. (fn. 44)

At Cockfosters a church in Freston Gardens was
built in 1939 with proceeds from the sale of Finsbury
Park Congregational church (Hornsey). In 1958 a
hall, Freston hall, was built. (fn. 45)

Enfield Methodist (W) church
originated in meetings in a wooden hut in a garden
in Baker Street in 1845, services previously having
been held in a room in Bonnett's Yard, Baker
Street. (fn. 47) In 1864 a brick church in Cecil Road was
opened, with seating for 250, and 1889 it was
replaced by a ragstone Gothic building, with a spire,
at the western end of Church Street. (fn. 48) The church
in Cecil Road was later used by St. Andrew's
National school. (fn. 49) In 1919 the new church was gutted
by fire and immediately rebuilt, with stained-glass
memorial windows. The church hall was built in
1914. (fn. 50)

Ponders End (W) church began when a chapel, of
unknown location, was built in 1849. (fn. 51) In 1892
another chapel was built at the eastern end of South
Street (fn. 52) and in 1931 the modern brick church was
built on the western side of High Street. (fn. 53) Another
chapel, in Alma Road, existed from 1882 to
1898. (fn. 54)

Ordnance Road (W) church was founded in 1859,
when a small brick chapel was opened in Grove
Road. In 1879 it was replaced by an iron building in
Ordnance Road, which was itself replaced by a brick
chapel and schoolroom in 1904. A new red-brick
church, of cruciform plan, was built and opened in
1957. It stands south of the church built in 1904,
which in 1973 served as the church hall. (fn. 55)

Chase Side (P) church began with meetings on the
green in 1851. A barn near the Holly Bush was taken
over in 1852 and a new brick chapel and schoolroom
to its south were opened in 1858. (fn. 56) The congregation
moved in 1894 to another brick chapel on the
opposite side of Chase Side, which was closed in
1957. (fn. 57) The chapel then became a Salvation Army
hall (fn. 58) and the congregation united with Enfield
Methodist (formerly Wesleyan) church. (fn. 59)

St. John's church, Great Cambridge Road, was
erected in 1960 as a dual-purpose building, five
years after services had started in a hut. (fn. 60)

Strict Baptists.

Providence chapel was built in Alma Road,
Enfield Wash, in 1863 by Strict Baptists who had
formerly worshipped in Baker Street and in Grove
Road. (fn. 62) The building, known as Enfield Highway
Baptist chapel, was replaced in 1875 by the
Providence chapel, Putney Road, (fn. 63) which seated 40
and survived in 1973. (fn. 64)

Baptists.

Enfield Baptist church was founded
with help from C. H. Spurgeon in 1867, when
services were held in a room over the Rising Sun,
Church Street. An iron chapel in London Road was
opened later in that year, and Enfield Baptist
tabernacle, an impressive classical building of brick
with stone dressings, was opened in London Road
in 1875. Membership at first was for Particular
Baptists, although open communion was permitted. (fn. 65)
A lecture hall which formed part of the tabernacle
was enlarged in 1882 and the site of the National
school was bought as a Sunday school hall in 1890. (fn. 66)
The tabernacle was sold in 1925 and in 1926 a plain
brick church was opened in Cecil Road, (fn. 67) where
there was seating for 400 in 1972. (fn. 68)

Emmanuel Baptist church, formerly the Congregationalist chapel in Baker Street, was registered
by the Old Baptist Union in 1933 and still used in
1973. (fn. 69)

Totteridge Road church was opened with help
from Spurgeon in 1868 for members who had met
in Enfield Highway Congregational church and
previously at Waltham Cross (Herts.). Although
originally described as Particular Baptists, the
congregation has always permitted open communion
and belonged to the Baptist Union. A larger brick
church was built in front of the older one in 1871
and seated 450 in 1972. The original building
became a hall, which was replaced in 1933. (fn. 70)

Eden chapel originated in a chapel which existed
in Napier Road, Ponders End, from 1880 to 1892,
when it was replaced by one in South Street. (fn. 71) Eden
chapel itself, a small brick building in Nags Head
Road, was registered in 1898 (fn. 72) but was derelict in
1971.

Suffolks church originated in a Sunday school
started in 1934 by Enfield Baptist church to serve
the new housing estates of eastern Enfield. Land in
Carterhatch Lane was purchased in 1938 and the
church, a plain brick structure with seating for 250,
was built in 1957. (fn. 73)

Salvation Army.

Halls in South Street, Ponders
End, and Grove Road, Enfield Wash, were registered
in 1885; the first closed in 1896 and the second in
1903. (fn. 74) A hall in Seventh Avenue, Bush Hill Park,
was registered in 1902 and replaced in 1926. (fn. 75) In
1971 Salvationists also used a hall in Chase Side,
acquired from the Primitive Methodists in 1957. (fn. 76)
Other halls temporarily occupied by the Army have
been in Ordnance Road (1910-12), Lancaster Road
(1911-57), South Street, Ponders End (1912-54),
and Baker Street (1924-33). (fn. 77)

Presbyterians.

A lecture hall at the western end
of Church Street was built in 1902 and used for
services until 1907, when the church of St. Paul was
opened. The church, a ragstone building in the
13th-century Gothic style, was designed by William
Wallace and was originally intended to have a spire. (fn. 78)
It could seat c. 500 in 1973. (fn. 79)

Other Denominations.

Mormons held services
in a house in Alma Road, Ponders End, from 1865
until 1876. (fn. 80) In 1882 a group of anti-polygamy
Mormons opened a chapel in Baker Street, which
was closed in 1896. (fn. 81) Another group, called the
Reorganized Latter-Day Saints, in 1912 registered a
house in Baker Street (fn. 82) and in 1929 (fn. 83) built a small
brick church in Lancaster Road, which was used
in 1971.

Alma Hope chapel, New Road, Ponders End,
existed from 1875 to 1896. (fn. 84) A mission hall in Alma
Road near by was registered for worship in 1879 by
the Ponders End mission and closed in 1896. (fn. 85)

Protestant dissenters registered a chapel at Botany
Bay in 1882 and closed it in 1897. (fn. 86) In 1971 there
was an undenominational chapel in East Lodge
Lane, Botany Bay.

Enfield Town Evangelical Free church, Cecil
Road, was built in 1897. It was severely damaged in
the Second World War and replaced in 1956 by a
plain brick building, with seating for 250. (fn. 87)

An iron room in Coopers Lane, on the boundary
near Potters Bar, was registered by Brethren in 1897
and closed in 1961. (fn. 88)

A mission hall in Shirley Road existed in 1898. (fn. 89)
It was registered by unspecified Christians in 1901
and replaced by the modern brick building, Shirley
Road Gospel hall, in 1960. (fn. 90) Enfield Highway Gospel
hall, Hertford Road, was registered by Brethren in
1903 (fn. 91) and was still used in 1971. Brethren also
registered a gospel hall in Leighton Road, Bush Hill
Park, in 1910, (fn. 92) where they remained in 1971, and
worshipped at the Causeway hall by 1927. (fn. 93) They
registered a meeting room in Chase Side in 1921 (fn. 94)
and Primrose hall, Lavender Road, in 1926 (fn. 95) but no
longer used either place in 1971.

Jehovah's Witnesses registered a garage at no. 179
Baker Street, formerly the nonconformist school of
industry, (fn. 96) as a Kingdom hall in 1940. (fn. 97) They moved
to a new hall, seating 200, at no. 1910 Baker Street
in 1970. (fn. 98)

The Assemblies of God registered Waldron hall,
Genotin Road, in 1947 but ceased to use it in 1964. (fn. 99)
From 1949 they also worshipped in a new brick
chapel in Lincoln Road, (fn. 100) which in 1971 was styled
Lincoln Road Pentecostal chapel.

The Beacon of Light Christian Spiritualist
church, at no. 331 Carterhatch Lane, was registered
in 1949 (fn. 101) and still used in 1971.

An unsectarian mission room at Brigadier Hill
existed in 1898. (fn. 102) In 1951 Brigadier hall was
registered by undesignated Christians (fn. 103) and in 1970
it was replaced by a two-storeyed brick and weatherboarded building, combining the Brigadier Free
church with a youth centre. (fn. 104)

The London City Mission held services in Baker
Street in 1873. (fn. 105) In 1955 the mission registered a
plain brick hall in Turkey Street. (fn. 106)

A room at no. 23 Heene Road was registered by
unspecified Christians in 1969. (fn. 107)